FARGO, NORTH DAKOTA -- Here's my Saturn experience. If this deters just one person from getting involved with the company, it will have been worth it. I received your name and address from (withheld), who's the Manager for Saturn Customer Service for my area. I'd like to relate to you a series of experiences I had recently with my 2003 VUE. As a result, I am expecting reimbursement of expenses totaling $256.22.

It all started over the summer, when I noticed that the key cylinder of my VUE was beginning to malfunction. The key would fall out while I drove, and occasionally the VUE wouldn't start because the key refused to turn in the cylinder. I didn't think much of it at the time, only adding it to the list of body malfunctions that had plagued the VUE since I bought it (mysteriously cracked mirror and windshield, dents caused when closing the hatch, windshield wipers flying off into traffic (during a snowstorm!), hood release lever repeated breaking, tires and wheel bearings worn out at 45000 miles, among other headaches). I thought, "Why, it's nearly 4 years old, I should expect these things!"

Before beginning a long trip in October, I thought I'd be proactive and have the key cylinder replaced, to avoid any problems while traveling. Since my local dealership is an hour away in Fargo ND, I had the cylinder installed by my regular mechanic at College Way Auto here in Fergus Falls, MN. Saturn of Fargo prepared the cylinder and shipped it to College Way Auto, who installed it on October 20. I embarked on my trip with a song in my heart and smile on my lips and new key cylinder in my VUE.

Everything was going very well until I was preparing to leave the parking lot of the Blytheville, AR Days Inn at approximately 5:15 in the morning of November 2. The key wouldn't turn. Nothing like looking down the barrel of a 550 mile drive with of car that won't start because of a faulty part.

While calling around to the auto parts emporia in Blytheville, I was told by each that Saturn doesn't supply such new parts to stores, and that I'd either have to get the part at a dealer, or have it shipped to them, which might take a few days. I had an urgent schedule to keep in Wisconsin and Illinois, so I opted to get the tow to my nearest Saturn Dealer. I called the customer service number as listed in my owner's manual, and was told that the nearest dealers were in Little Rock, Memphis, or Jackson, TN.

I opted for Jackson, I told the customer service representative, because although it was southeast of Blytheville, it was closest to the northerly direction I was heading. The representative said that may be I could drive over my local repair shop and they could tell me where to get it fixed. I reminded her that, while that was a great idea and the thought had occurred to me, it would be impossible because my car wasn't starting and that was why I was on the phone with her. I proceeded to call the 24 hour towing service in Blytheville, and was told that they wouldn't be open for another 3 hours, and to call back then. Apparently, in Arkansas, "open 24 hours" doesn't necessarily mean "in a row".

After changing all my plans for the day, and preparing for the idea that it may take more than a few extra hours to get to Wisconsin, I checked back into my room and waited to call the tow truck. I eventually caught up with the towing service, who recommended just going up to the Saturn Dealer in Cape Girardeau, MO, only 100 miles straight north, and right on my route to Wisconsin.

Funny, I said, Saturn didn't mention anything about a dealer in Cape Girardeau. Things were looking up! The guys from the towing service needed to take the VUE out of gear to get it up onto the flatbed tow truck, and proceeded to disconnect the cable that connects the shifter to the transmission. That's fine, I thought. I'd been sitting there for nearly 5 hours waiting for this moment, and whatever they needed to do to expedite this process was greatly appreciated.

A hundred miles later I was safely ensconced in the spacious waiting room at Saturn of Cape Girardeau, MO, talking music and cars with the sales staff there. Later that afternoon, a member of the repair staff brought out the key cylinder to show me the damage. That person explained that the key cylinder had been crimped in such a way that the tumbler wouldn't tumble, and so the key wouldn't turn.

They'd be happy to replace (a) the key cylinder, as well as fixing (b) a broken horn switch, and (c) the hood release lever, which had snapped off in my hand for the umpteenth time. I opted for the key cylinder only, as I can live without a horn and I'm already used to yanking on the cable to open the hood. So, let's recap. Here's what it's cost me so far:

Proactively replacing the key cylinder $263.11. Towing Service to re-repair key cylinder $360.52. Re-repair cylinder $219.22. $842.85, so far, of which $579.74 should have been unnecessary. I was on my way back north at 5:30 that evening, and luckily I'd saved that day for travel only (no work), so I didn't have to cancel anything because of my predicament. The rest of my tour was uneventful, transportation-wise, but the story doesn't end there.

Upon returning to my home in Western Minnesota, on November 5, I went immediately to my regular auto repair place, College Way Auto. They asked how the tour was, and I told them that it went pretty well, and then placed the defectively crimped cylinder on the counter. "Oh, hey...Oh... Uh oh."

"Yeah," I responded. "According to the Saturn dealer in Cape Girardeau, it was crimped wrong, and as a result I got stranded." "Let us take care of it. We'll make a call and let you know." They called back within a few hours to say that Saturn of Fargo denied any knowledge of the cylinder, and that it was College Way's fault for crimping it wrong, and that they hadn't crimped it, and they'd be willing to throw in $40 if it would make me feel any better. (That's less than 7% of the unnecessary billing).

This got under College Way's skin a little, as you might imagine, as they didn't even have a crimping machine, and they had to represent Saturn's lies to their customer. They offered to keep trying, and to do anything I'd need to rectify the situation. Upon returning home from College Way auto, I called the Saturn Dealer in Fargo, and let them know that I didn't appreciate their misrepresenting their own role in my ongoing problem. They said that they'd sure get to the bottom of it and that they'd have the service manager call me back just as soon as he could. No call yet as of December 21. I'm still waiting.

I then called the dealership in Cape Girardeau to let them know that I was having difficulties. The manager there gave me a little information about those key cylinders. He told me that many of them are no good. His dealership replaces so many of them that they must keep a large supply on hand simply to keep up with the number of them that must be replaced. He mentioned that any dealer that tells you that they don't replace a bunch of these key cylinders is a liar. Hmmm. We seem to be developing a pattern over at that Fargo dealership!

The story doesn't end there. On November 2, I was picking my daughter up after her busy day in the third grade. While I was turning around, the car simply fell out of gear. All of the tension went out of the shifter, and the vehicle was then stuck in reverse. The car was stuck in such a way that not only could school buses not move into a safe position to pick up kids, but neither could the teachers exit their parking lot.

I realized, of course, exactly what had happened. Thinking back to a couple of weeks earlier, the towing company in Blytheville, Arkansas needed to take the car out of gear in order to drag it up onto the flatbed to take me and the VUE to Cape Girardeau, and it had simply been reassembled incorrectly. The result was, however, another tow and repair. I explained my predicament to the folks at College Way Auto, and it turns out I was correct--the linkage from the shifter to the transmission had not been reassembled correctly, and it simply fell apart at the shifter.

Let's look at some grand totals: Proactively replacing the key cylinder $263.11. Towing Service to re-repair key cylinder $360.52. Re-repair cylinder $219.22. Towing Service to re-repair shifter $65.00. Re-repair shifter $32.13 for a grand total of $939.98 of which $676.87 was completely unnecessary.

By now in my story, folks at College Way Auto had made several overtures to Saturn of Fargo, including showing them Saturn's certification that the cause of this trouble was an incorrectly crimped key cylinder of their own doing. My insurance company agreed to take care of all of the towing expenses. Perhaps chagrined at being caught in this duplicity, Saturn of Fargo upped their offer to $155.04.

So now here's where we are: Proactively replacing the key cylinder $263.11 (I paid for this). Towing Service to re-repair key cylinder $360.52 (insurance). Re-repair cylinder $219.22. Towing Service to re-repair shifter $65.00 (insurance). Re-repair shifter $32.13, which leaves me with $251.35 in unneeded repairs due to Saturn's negligence. Saturn of Fargo has offered $155.04, which leaves $96.31 unaccounted for.

Now here's my problem. I ran this entire story past **, who's the area Customer Support manager in charge of my area. I told her that I was expecting the entire $251.35 reimbursed. She put me on hold, considered the options, and was moved to offer me $100 of in-store Saturn Credit in addition to Fargo's offer. Anyone with a modicum of empathy would see the patent absurdity of this offer.

I don't want $100 in oil changes and Saturn key fobs 60 miles away. That will not erase the mistake. What I want is for Saturn to step up and make it so that this farce never happened. I told this to **, and she offered for me to take it or leave it. That's when I asked for information on her supervisor. She said that she had no supervisor. I assured her that there must be someone she reported to, and she gave me your information.

I've been thinking about the Saturn's reputation as a company dedicated to customer service, and frankly, it hasn't been the extraordinary and rewarding partnership that benefits me every time I pull out of the driveway, as touted in my owner's manual. Instead, I wonder what will go wrong next, and in what creative way the buck will be passed. I've enclosed copies of all receipts, and I will call your office within the next couple of weeks to follow up. To follow up, they did eventually send the check, and I laughed as I dropped in into the trash.

Upon arrival, a service advisor (a slender, dark haired male whose name is not listed on the invoice) looked at the car's dashboard and filled out a form stating that the dash's “security” light is lit and that both the battery and alternator need to be tested. Minutes later, I watched as a mechanic (male with long blonde hair) plugged an electronic hand-held diagnostic unit into the vehicle beneath the steering wheel. When finished, he walked over to me and stated that he received three trouble codes from the car relating to the car's power.

Several minutes later, after the mechanic tested the alternator, the “unnamed” service advisor informed me that that both the alternator and battery were defective and needed to be replaced. Around 3:00 PM the same day, I received a phone call from a male service advisor (not sure whom) and was told he just received the alternator from Hurst and that the repairs would not be completed until the following morning.

The next morning, 10/02/07, I received another call from a male service advisor (not sure whom) and was told he had “some bad news.” Both the alternator and battery were replaced, but now “all the lights on the dashboard are going crazy” and that the “BCM” needs to be replaced. The next day, afternoon of 10/03/07, when I arrived to pick up the car, I spoke with two service advisors, ** (who acted as a member of management) and the initial “unnamed” service advisor.

I asked them why I was not informed on 10/01, when I first brought in the car, that the BCM was defective. Mike said that they didn't know it was “fried” until both the alternator and battery was both replaced and that the mechanic had not received a trouble code using the diagnostic unit until after the initial repairs. These assertions are absurd, because on 10/01, I was informed three trouble codes had been received, but nothing about a “BCM” was mentioned.

Next, I asked both advisors what a BCM does. They said it controls many of the electronic functions of the car such as the horn, headlights, and dashboard warning lights. This too indicates foul play, because when I initially drove in the car on 10/01, all aforementioned functions were operating as normal. The only thing odd with the car's electronics was that the “security” dashboard light was constantly lit. I informed the advisors that this light has been on for about the last six months and that other service advisors and mechanics have commented on it, but never diagnosed why it was so (except for tires, all maintenance and repairs have been performed at Saturn of Mesquite).

Also, in a dishonest attempt to explain why all of a sudden the BCM was found to be defective a day after the car was dropped off; Mike said the diagnostic device was not used on the car until the next day. When I reminded him I personally observed it being 2 used and discussed its results with the mechanic on the morning I brought the car in, he recanted his claim.

Next, he told me that I had “fried” the BCM myself by charging the battery overnight and that the battery was literally smoking when the car was brought in. Both of these claims are blatantly false. When I brought the car in, none of the symptoms of a bad BCM were evident to either me or the unnamed advisor (erratic headlights, horn, etc). In addition, the battery never “smoked.” I even asked the unnamed advisor right then and there if he witnessed any smoke and he honestly replied, “No.” My wife and I believe one of two fraudulent acts took place: Either the BCM was never defective or the BCM was damaged while in Saturn of Mesquite's custody.

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Saturn Customer Service and our vehicle experience

By Frank51 - 09/11/2009

OHIO -- My wife and I planned a family vacation for our family. It took over a year to schedule and coordinate for all of the members of the family to schedule vacation at the same time. We leased a new 2002 Saturn. By the time the family all got together for the vacation from Ohio to Northern Michigan the Saturn had 15,000 miles on it.

The vehicle stopped on us in an intersection in Spaulding Mi. We pushed the vehicle off to the side of the road. It was 9:30 PM. We called the number in our Saturn owner's manual. At 11:30 PM a wrecker showed up to retrieve our vehicle. The closest Saturn Dealer was located in Green Bay Wisconsin over 100 miles away. The vehicle was towed to Green Bay. We found lodging for the night. Then the next morning we paid for transportation to Green Bay for the family.

At the dealership in Green Bay I was told by a service manager that they had run our vehicle for several hours and could not duplicate the problem. Just as they were bringing the vehicle out to us it stalled. It was good that it happened while we were still at the dealership and not back out on the road.

The problem turned out to be some sort of module, of which they didn't have in stock. They had to obtain the part from another dealership. By this time we had all lost a whole day of our four day vacation. By the time the car was ready we checked into a hotel for the evening. The next morning we headed back home from our ruined vacation. Four people each lost over a day of a vacation a year in the planning.

When we got back to Dayton Ohio we spoke to the dealership about our problem and our expenses to no avail. So I called the Saturn Customer Service number. It was a waste of time. They offered me $90.00 towards my expenses. I told them to shove it up their butts. We were out of $702.00 dollars. I got no satisfaction.

To make a long story short we turned in the vehicle at the end of the lease instead of buying it like we planned. We will never lease or buy another SATURN vehicle. When I see the Saturn commercial where they say "We have done right by people from the beginning" it makes me want to vomit!!! I read the responses of several readers that read the complaints or experiences that Saturn owners shared on this site. It sounds like they were written by people that probably had a vested interest in Saturn.

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Unbelievable!

By Rip'n Pissed Rob - 06/04/2009

Let me tell you a little story. I bought a Saturn Sky Redline 16 days ago from this dealership. From the get go my sales person was the most ill-informed and impolite man I have ever dealt within a sales situation. Being a salesman, I am surprised this guy makes any money gauged from his level of knowledge and customer service. After three days of setbacks revolving around securing financing with a payment I would accept it was finally all lined up... or so I thought.

Yesterday (15 days later) I was contacted by the dealership again. The first words out of the man's mouth was "we made a huge mistake and we need you to come in and sign a new contract (which had payments of $45/month more and was amortized over a shorter period of 60 months) or bring the car back." The difference in monthly payments over the course of the loan totals a little over $3400.

After investigating my contract it states in plain English that they, "seller," have 10 days to inform me of their rescission of this contract should they not find someone to assume the loan. This makes no difference to owner Ken Croft. Needless to say, I am bringing the car back at the end of business today.

Furthermore, when I did buy the car (and was contracted wrong for) I drove off the lot with one key to the vehicle, two un-programmed remotes, and a 1/3 tank of gas!!! I mentioned my discontent at the above mentioned and was brushed off. At that point in time I had been at the dealership for over 2 hrs and was anxious to leave and never have to come back again.... except to get my remotes programmed which I didn't know then would take the better half of a day! And now to bring the car back I have enjoyed for the last two weeks but now hate!

Boo Saturn of Cerritos, and shame on you ** for the tone you take with your customers and the way your staff conducts business. If I ever released one of my products to a client of mine and later learned that I needed to take financial hit on it, I wouldn't dream of contacting that client and asking for more money. That's just plain old bad business.

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Breach of Contract and Failure to Remedy Vehicle

By Sweetwilli - 05/16/2009

FAIRFAX -- It is my strong belief that Saturn of Fairfax breached their contract and did not complete the repairs they claimed to make. Furthermore, they misdiagnosed my vehicle problem, which lead to complete failure of the particular part, even after adding on additional charges and repairs after their initial estimate for which they could not justify.

After picking up the vehicle from the station, it broke down less than seven miles away. When I called them to complain I was told it would require additional repairs and towing at my expense. After failure to respond to my phone calls and inquiries, failure to complete the repairs, poor customer service, unexplained fees, I was billed for work that was not completed.

In the way that I was mistreated by the original two service agents, their lack of solutions, contradictory statements, and the fact that the car was not fixed, I had no other choice but to have it towed to another service station whose analysis revealed internal damage to the part in question. It was later revealed by a third-party inspection of the parts that they misdiagnosed the problem and that Saturn had actually damaged the vehicle. There is also reason to believe they violated several codes of the local Consumer Protection Act.

I am disappointed in Saturn's ethical failure and refusal to resolve this matter in a logical and fair manner, even through BBB intervention. No consumer should be held liable for a product or service that was not provided. Because of Saturn's misdiagnosis, I suffered two weeks without a car and even missed work. Their failure to communicate with me and offer me a solution left me no other choice but to hire someone who could repair the vehicle successfully and quickly. This dispute also resulted in hours of paperwork filing consumer complaints with federal, state, and local business agencies, as well as fighting off their ruthless corporate attorneys.

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Conned by Saturn of Marietta

By connedbysaturn - 01/15/2009

MARIETTA, GEORGIA -- Learn from our mistakes with this dealer. We purchased a Saturn Aura from this dealer about 15 months ago. After looking over the paperwork again it is clear we have been conned out of close to $2,000 due to their sleazy financing practices. We were double-charge their documentation fee on two different pieces of paperwork (it was on the vehicle order form in calculating the total vehicle price used on the sales contract and then added again to the bottom of the retail contract), figures on the total price do not add up between the vehicle order form total and the starting figure of the sales price on the sales contract.

We went in with an employee discount and were offered our choice between the employee discount or a low interest rate & opted for the interest rate. The employee discount was put back into the purchase price as a 'payment paid' on our behalf and applied to our financing total (item H of the sales contract). We went into the dealer exhausted after a transatlantic move to the US 3 days prior and after 2 hard days of going to car dealership after car dealership and did not review our documentation carefully enough.

The finance guy held all documentation until everything was signed and then gave us our copies - if you go here, get it all in front of you at once and check the figures between the sales contract and the vehicle order form (what we should have done more carefully from the start).

We did ask questions and were given lengthy answers that, at the time, seemed to make sense (sort-of) but looking back over everything with a refreshed mental state, do not. Buyer beware with these guys - we certainly won't make the same mistakes again and will not give this dealer our repeat business.

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They'll stonewall you!

By irate1 - 08/31/2006

FISHERS, INDIANA -- I had a complaint because a service tech at the Saturn of Fishers dealership located in Fishers, Indiana misdiagnosed the cause of failure and installed the part as the cure when in reality it could not have caused the problem.

The DRL's or daytime running lights on a '02 Saturn L300 came on in the middle of the night on several occasions. There was no key in the ignition! I had known for some time that the BCM, Body Control Module was bad. It was diagnosed as the cause of the odometer failure. It read 690K miles. I opted not to have that repaired at that time. Saturn has had recalls on a lot of items and to save $410 I was willing to wait to see if there was a campaign that extended warrant. As far as I'm concerned the odometer should be under warranty coverage to 80K miles. Saturn and GM do not agree. So be it.

More than once the DRL's Daytime Running Lights came on in the wee hours of the morning with no one in the car or the key in the ignition. Several of my old buddies at Delphi and one an employee of Motorola told me this problem was caused by the BCM.

I knew the BCM was defective anyway and made an appointment to have it replaced. By this time the DRL's were on constantly. To avoid a run down battery I pulled the headlamp fuses. I told the service rep that I had been told it was caused by the BCM.

After a short wait the service rep told me the cause of the DRL's coming on was the Multifunction Lever Switch located on the steering column and it and the DRL's on was not related to the BCM. I needed it fixed so said okay. I have since learned that a defective BCM is the only part in that system that could cause the DRL's to come on in the middle of the night.

I have been ripped off and Saturn of Fishers, a Division of Lackhart Corporation, or Saturn Customer Assistance Center will seek an opinion from Saturn Service Engineering as to whether this part can cause the problem. The BCM was replaced at the same time and it did affect the cure of the problem. I can promise this, I will badmouth Saturn, GM, and especially Saturn of Fishers until the day I die or they do, whichever comes first!

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Very Poor Work With Dangerous Results

By burnedturtle - 12/30/2009

RIVERSIDE, CALIFORNIA -- When I brought my 1999 Saturn in to get a new alternator, my brother and I observed that for all but 45 minutes, the car sat with no one working on it but was charged for 2.9 hours of labor at $90.00 per hour. When I went to pick the car up, the service representative told me the turn signal wouldn't cancel correctly, but was otherwise ready to go. This was strange since it worked on the way there.

When we started back to my sister's house, the car had a very bad miss that jerked the car so bad I immediately returned to Saturn of Riverside and the service representative went with us and could see the miss and the turn signals not working. He commented that it was like "having a heart attack in the hospital". He said the mechanic had tested the turn signal switch and found it was faulty but that they did not stock or repair the switches and could do nothing.

The ride back to my sister's house was scary without a turn signal switch and the bad miss jerked the car badly. When my brother checked the plastic housing around the steering wheel, he found it was loose and when tightened up, the turn signals worked - so they had lied about testing the switch. Later, we found that the terrible miss was caused by a small fuel return line being disconnected. I was surprised that the mechanic would act so careless and cost me so much money. Never again will I trust Saturn with repairing my car.

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Great Service

By jack414 - 10/05/2009

MESQUITE, TEXAS -- WOW! I am very impressed with the outstanding service that I received at Saturn of Mesquite. Over the weekend I noticed that my Service light came on. First thing Monday morning I called to see what I needed to do. I spoke to Romney and he was able to get me in first thing. I was prepared to wait to have my car looked over, but was offered a ride to work while they took a look, called with reason for service and they were able to fix and have it ready for me by the time I was finished working.

They even offered to come pick me up. I was able to get a ride so I declined the offer. After work I went to get my car and I have not had any problems since. Most dealers I have worked within the past have been very rude, could not get me in and service my car within the same day.

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Will not honor warranty

By mother in distress - 07/27/2009

FORT WAYNE, INDIANA -- My son had our local Saturn dealer install Saturn Performance Tune part #1921260 on a 2008 Sky Redline. Two days later the engine blew. The engine block and heads are cracked along with the turbo and water pump. Saturn will not honor new car warranty or warranty on the tune install. Once repair work started to reach $10,000 they shifted their focus to finding something/anything that may have voided the warranty. Looking for help from anyone, because what they are doing is wrong!